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Biotech / Medical : PFE (Pfizer) How high will it go? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth R Miller who wrote (1139)	4/14/1998 8:49:00 PM
From: Perry	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9523

It's good to hear that some insurance companies are beginning to pay for Viagra. Any idea if Smith_Kline is a good fit for PFE. See the news below. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tuesday April 14, 3:15 pm Eastern Time SmithKline says merger still viable option By Ransdell Pierson NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters) - SmithKline Beecham Plc (SBH - news) is undaunted by its recent failed efforts to merge with another major pharmaceutical company, and a merger remains an attractive option for boosting shareholder value, Chief Operating Officer Jean-Pierre Garnier said Tuesday. Garnier also said the company was considering borrowingmoney as a way to increase the research and development budget to capitalize on its sophisticated drug discovery technology. Garnier denied recent published reports that SmithKline was trying to raise funds through a large private bond issue. He was interviewed after a meeting with Wall Street analysts here at which company scientists described progress in their R&D pipeline. Earlier this year SmithKline broke off separate merger talks with Glaxo-Wellcome Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: GLXO.L) and American Home Products Corp. (AHP - news), sparking speculation about whether those failed negotiations would make it difficult for the London-based firm to attract a partner. Asked if SmithKline itself were leery of continuing in the quest for a merger partner because of the two failures, Garnier said, ''I don't think so. First, we're in the research business. Sometimes it's part of the innovation path (to stumble). We're trying to do something difficult to do. ''Therefore, you can't guarantee everything you try succeeds. So two times is not a pattern. The future will tell.'' Wall Street was galvanized by SmithKline's merger attempts, particularly its hoped-for match with Glaxo -- a $70 billion deal that would have created the world's largest drug company with an 8 percent worldwide market share. Asked if SmithKline's earlier efforts obligated the company to secure a merger partner, Garnier said, ''Certainly not. We were not locked in before and we are not locked in now.'' He said the company's main focus would continue to be the creation of shareholder value through the ''organic growth'' of introducing new drugs. He said mergers and borrowing were ways to ''accelerate'' shareholder value. In addition to mergers, Garnier said the company might consider the option of borrowing money against its balance sheet and plow the money into research and development. ''You can do it by linking that extra financing, for instance, to royalties on a given (drug) product,'' he said. Garnier denied speculation that SmithKline had walked away from the Glaxo deal because of an alleged power squabble between himself and Glaxo Chief Executive Robert Ingram. ''We completely disagree with that. That is not the case,'' he said. More Quotes and News: American Home Products Corp (NYSE:AHP - news) SMITHKLINE ADR A (NYSE:SBH - news) Related News Categories: US Market News, health, options